The evolution of computers and networking technologies from high-cost, low performance data processing systems to low cost, high-performance communication, problem solving and entertainment systems has provided a cost-effective and time saving means to lessen the burden of performing every day tasks such as correspondence, bill paying, shopping, budgeting and information gathering. For example, a computing system interfaced to the Internet, via wired or wireless technology, can provide a user with a channel for nearly instantaneous access to a wealth of information from a repository of web sites and servers located around the world, at the user's fingertips.
Typically, the information available via web sites and servers is accessed via a web browser executing on a web client (e.g., a computer). For example, a web user can deploy a web browser and access a web site by entering the web site Uniform Resource Locator (URL) (e.g., a web address and/or an Internet address and/or an intranet address) into an address bar of the web browser and pressing the enter key on a keyboard or clicking a “go” button with a mouse. The URL typically includes four pieces of information that facilitate access: a protocol (a language for computers to communicate with each other) that indicates a set of rules and standards for the exchange of information, a location to the web site, a name of an organization that maintains the web site, and for web addresses a suffix (e.g., com, org, net, gov and edu) that identifies the type of organization.
In some instances, the user knows, a priori, the name of the site or server, and/or the URL to the site or server that the user desires to access. In such situations, the user can access the site, as described above, via entering the URL in the address bar and connecting to the site. However, in most instances, the user does not know the URL or the site name. Instead, the user employs a search function to facilitate locating a particular site based on keywords provided by the user. Presently there exist two disparate types of search functions—a domain-specific search function whose search is confined to a particular domain or site (e.g., www.domain.com), and a general search function (e.g. a general search engine) that searches the entire World Wide Web (or intranet) for sites related to the provided keywords. For example, the user may desire to locate sites that contain information regarding a computer virus. A first option would be to go directly to a particular domain (e.g., www.computervirus.com) that specializes in information relating to computer viruses, and search for documents (e.g., www.computervirus.com/virus1.htm) within that domain containing relevant information. More specifically, the user will enter the URL www.computervirus.com into the address bar of a web browser and be directed to such site. On that site the user can enter keywords into a search dialog box, and the search will return documents within the domain www.computervirus.com that the user can select. However, relevant information that lies outside of that domain will not be returned to the user. For instance, a relevant page with a domain www.compvirus.com would not be returned, as it does not lie within the domain www.computervirus.com. Thus, for the user to obtain relevant data outside of the domain www.computervirus.com, he must know URL addresses of other domains that contain information and search such particular domains.
Alternatively, the user can enter keywords into a general search engine, which will search the entirety of the World Wide Web or other collection of sites (e.g., intranet) and return sites that it determines to be related to the keywords. Often, however, the general search engine will return a substantial number of sites that are wholly unrelated to the particular interests of the user. For example, if the user searched using the keyword “virus”, rather than obtaining information related only to computer viruses he or she would receive information relating to biological viruses as well as computer viruses. The user can thereafter scroll through a plurality of returned sites and attempt to determine if they are related to user interests. Scrolling through returned results can be extremely time consuming and frustrating to the user, as general search engines can return a substantial number of sites when performing a search. The user can attempt to narrow the search via utilizing a combination of Boolean operators, but it can be difficult to construct an appropriate Boolean search that will result in a return of sites containing only relevant information. Furthermore, some conventional general search engines attempt to infer what a user is searching for based upon the keywords. For instance, if a user entered the term “virus” into the general search engine, the search engine can return a plurality of sites together with suggestions for narrowing the search. More particularly, the search engine could return a plurality of suggestions, such as “do you want to search for a computer virus?”, “do you want to search for a biological virus?”, etc. For many searches (especially for more detailed and specific searches), this conventional method requires selecting a continuing hierarchy of suggested searches, and the returned sites may still lack relevant information. Furthermore, the user may desire to locate a site that will not be encompassed by the returned search suggestions.
Accordingly, there exists a strong need in the art for a searching system and/or methodology that provides focused results as can be found in domain-specific searching without sacrificing benefits related to a search conducted via a general search engine.